IBDb = Internet Broadway Database15 of 22
Originally an offBroadway show, for some unknown reason the London production of GREASE did not take off and only managed a mere 236 performances. The film version in 1978 made a great difference as far as London was concerned, but I must say Richard Gere and Stacey Gregg were a long way superior to Travolta & Newton-John.
Venue: New London Theatre, June 26th (236 Performances)
Music & Lyrics: Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey
Director: Tom Moore
Choreographer: Patricia Birch
Musical Director: Barry Booth
Producer: Paul Elliott & Duncan Weldon
Cast: Richard Gere (Danny Zuko), Stacey Gregg (Sandy),
Jacquie-Ann Carr (Rizzo), Peter Armitage (Kenickie),
Stephen Alder (Teen Angel), Derek James (Doody)
Songs: Summer Nights, Freddy My Love, Greased Lightning, Mooning, Look at
Me I’m Sandra Dee, We Go Together, It’s Raining on Prom Night, Beauty
School Drop Out, There are Worse Things I Could Do
Story: The setting is Rydell High School where the greaser Danny Zuko is attracted to the prim and proper Sandy Dumbrowski, who eventually learns that in 1950s Chicago there is no fun in being virtuous. The show is a satirical, bang-on-target look at the dress, manners, morals and music of teenagers at the beginning of the rock’n’roll era, where kids had little on their minds except hanging out and making out. Underneath it all, the show mocks individuality and champions eventual conformity with the real world of 1950s America.
Anyway, recent revivals of “Grease” have been hugely successful everywhere.
TitlesGrease
© 1978 Paramount - Image courtesy mptvimages.com